Fantasy Life

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2:15

Fantasy Life

R

Mar 2026

1h 31m

Romance

Comedy

Drama

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Watchlist

Watchlist

Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

82%

Tomatometer

71 Reviews

66%

Popcornmeter

100+ Ratings

An anxious law school dropout (Matthew Shear) stumbles into a job babysitting his psychiatrist's three granddaughters and falls for the girls' mother (Amanda Peet), an actress in a rocky marriage. A smart, New York-set romantic comedy co-starring Alessandro Nivola, Judd Hirsch, Bob Balaban, Andrea Martin, Zosia Mamet, and Holland Taylor. Winner of the SXSW Narrative Feature Audience Award.

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Critics Consensus

A sensitive romantic dramedy enriched with emotional maturity and a terrific turn from Amanda Peet, Fantasy Life is refreshingly grounded in plausible reality.

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Christy Lemire

FilmWeek (LAist)

May 7

It's very warm and wry; a very intelligent New York rom-com.

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Robert Abele

Los Angeles Times

Apr 3

A modest yet amusingly spiky round trip from Manhattan to Martha’s Vineyard, it has the trappings of a rom-com but a trickier soulfulness about its unlikely connection.

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Matt Zoller Seitz

RogerEbert.com

Mar 30

3/4

The top-to-bottom cast of proudly eccentric actors ... ensures that every scene has moments of truth, and the filmmaker’s empathy pushes the movie over the finish line.

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Hannah Brown

Jerusalem Post

13h

An offbeat, very funny film, a kind of psychologically astute rom-com, that puts neurotic New Yorkers front and center for the first time in a while.

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Laura Hiros

Rincón de cine

May 8

2.5/5

Fantasy Life is an interesting story for a very specific viewer. [Full Review in Spanish]

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Beandrea July

FilmWeek (LAist)

May 7

I really enjoyed this! The thematic star of this movie is really mental health.

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ag

May 11

boring- too long- characters not likeable

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Andrew E

Apr 13

Wonderful film with a great cast.

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terrypofsf

Apr 13

Very simple plot--slow moving, satisfying.

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Connor C

Apr 12

Quiet, but thoughtful & occasionally pretty funny & moving.

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Colleen F

Apr 8

Heartwarming. Ended strangely.

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Brian B

Apr 8

This movie was an exercise in pointlessness. My wife and I wife still cant figure out what it was about. It wouldve been a good movie of the week in 1980. Fortunately, we only paid four bucks as a friend gave us a Fandango gift card. Thank you, Fandango! The acting was good, but there was no plot.

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Matthew Shear

Director

Amanda Peet

Dianne

Matthew Shear

Sam

Alessandro Nivola

David

Judd Hirsch

Fred

Bob Balaban

Lenny

Fantasy Life: Trailer 1

2:15

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Synopsis

An anxious law school dropout (Matthew Shear) stumbles into a job babysitting his psychiatrist's three granddaughters and falls for the girls' mother (Amanda Peet), an actress in a rocky marriage. A smart, New York-set romantic comedy co-starring Alessandro Nivola, Judd Hirsch, Bob Balaban, Andrea Martin, Zosia Mamet, and Holland Taylor. Winner of the SXSW Narrative Feature Audience Award.

Director: Matthew Shear
Producer: Charlie Alderman, Christopher Dodds, Amanda Peet, Phil Keefe, Emily McCann Lesser, David Bernon, Sam Slater
Screenwriter: Matthew Shear
Distributor: Greenwich Entertainment
Production Co: Prospect Avenue, Burn Later Productions, Made By Limbo, AC3 Media, Charlie's Production Company
Rating: R (Brief Drug Use|Some Sexual References|Language)
Genre: Romance, Comedy, Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Mar 27, 2026, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): May 8, 2026
Runtime: 1h 31m
Aspect Ratio: Flat (1.66:1)